Building blocks for the future

The City of Peterborough continues to be a city in transition.  And that’s a good thing as new ideas and
processes have the potential to move our community forward in a positive way.  That said, councillors will have some decisions ahead of them that will have an impact on our members.  At the General Committee meeting of January 15th, councillors were presented with several reports on these issues including:   

Legalization of Cannabis
Peterborough has been identified as one of 40 Ontario communities to have an Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC) store open this year, with another 110 across the province by the end of 2020.   The report by City Solicitor Patricia Lester outlines what is known about the role of the municipality under this new federal and provincial legislation.  Lester highlights that as a creature of the province, the municipality cannot deny a business license and that the final location choice is in the hands of the OCRC. 
Read the Report

E-Tendering and E-Bidding System
The City of Peterborough is planning to change its online tender and bidding system to a group called Bids and Tenders.  In her report to council Director of Corporate Services Sandra Clancy states that "issuing the City’s procurement documents through Bids and Tenders will streamline the process for staff, create efficiencies within the departments and reduce the number of non-compliant bids being submitted by vendors.”

The new system, which will be implemented between June and September of this year, also comes with a lower annual membership fee of $165 compared to the current $250.
Read the Report

Brownfields Tax Assistance Program
The tax incentive only applies to properties requiring environmental remediation.  During the length of the agreement with the property owner, the City does receive taxes based on the assessment of a clean property.  However, the owner receives a rebate equal to the difference between the taxes of the clean and unclean property, to cover the cost of remediation.  After the agreement the City then realizes the full amount of taxes based on the assessment of the cleaned up property.   

The view is that there is more value in the long run to the City on a remediated property than one that stays as is. The Director of Corporate Services concludes that, “The BTAP program is having a positive impact on enabling development to happen at locations that are environmentally challenged that would otherwise likely not be redeveloped.”
Read the Report

Development Charges Amendment Study
The goal of the amendments is to encourage more development in the downtown core.  Doing so will help the municipality on several fronts including meeting provincial Places To Grow targets and opening up a variety of residential opportunities.   
The current by-law has a life cycle of five years before a full review is required. Therefore, any amendments
approved by Council will be in place until January 1, 2020.  At the will of Council, they could continue in the next iteration of the by-law as well.   

The study presented to Council examines the following:

1. Assess the exemption of Development Charges for “Schedule J” – Central Area Lands of the Official Plan for residential developments with a minimum of 15 apartment units, and mixed-use developments with a minimum of 1,000 square metres of commercial floor space and 15 residential apartment units; and
2. Assess the impact of removing the Development Charge exemption for Industrial zoned land within the City.

A public meeting on the amendments will be held on Monday, February 5th, 2018 at 5:00pm at Council Chambers and a secondary report will be presented to Council sitting as General Committee on March 26th.
Read the Report

​The next City Council meeting is Monday, January 29th, 2018.